Missouri History Museum

2023-24 School Year–Week Twenty

Ladybug worked with composite functions in pre-calculus. She read about vitamins and minerals in health (and we got to discuss one of my favorite topics…scurvy!). In history, she read about the last of the Crusades…finally! She is almost done with The Divine Comedy. In physics, she started a chapter on periodic motion by learning about Hooke’s Law and springs. She read about the ascetic movement in the early church in religion.

Chickadee continued to work with measurements in math, and learned how to convert from temperatures in degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit. She finished the extended chapter on the nervous system in science. In grammar, she learned about constructing sentences and avoiding run-on sentences. She met Smaug in The Hobbit. In history she read about the Bubonic Plague (I personally think it’s still too soon!).

Today we went to the Missouri History Museum for the February History Exploration Day, which focused on Black contributions to health and medicine in St. Louis (and the wider world). Ladybug and Chickadee got to make their own hand sanitizer, we got to handle some actual surgical tools, they made herb sachets, and we learned about a lot of interesting people we were unfamiliar with. While we were out, we also swung by the Science Center to see the TARDIS.

Next week isn’t just the middle of February…it’s also the beginning of Lent. I can only hope that it goes by quickly!

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee has a fun time at the Missouri History Museum learning about Christmas nostalgia…I was not so thrilled that part of what they considered nostalgia was a neon photo wall that represented the malls of the 80s!

She also had fun being Santa Lucia yesterday!

Not to mention Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden last night!

2023-24 School Year–Fifteen

This week we wrapped up a bunch of stuff before Christmas, and also started our annual “Christmas School!” We’re studying hymns this year…I choose two Advent, six Christmas, and one Epiphany hymn to make sure we covered the entire time of Christmas. We’re paining a scene to represent each one on a wooden square, which we plan to assemble quilt-style when all nine are complete. Here’s a peek at some of what we’ve done so far:

On to the regular work…Ladybug learned how to convert from degrees to radians and also from radians to degrees in pre-calculus. She finished reading “The Purgatario” section of The Divine Comedy…she’ll finish the book in the new year. In American history, she read about the events and people leading up the Civil War, including the gold rush, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls Convention, and Sojourner Truth.

Chickadee multiplied and divided with larger decimals in math. She learned about arteries, capillaries, and veins in science, and how the blood travels through the heart to the rest of the body and back again. We continued reading The Hobbit. She learned how to diagram demonstrative and interrogative pronouns in grammar. We read about Richard the Lionhearted, John Lackland, and Robin Hood in history.

We also went to this month’s “History Exploration Day” at the Missouri History Museum, which focused on Holiday Nostalgia and Family Traditions. It was a lot of fun, even if seeing what is counted as “nostalgia” these days made me feel old!

Next week is more Christmas School…we have five more hymns to study, plus some secular Christmas carols. We’re also planning on watching as many version of The Nutcracker as possible, and hopefully we’ll bake some Christmas cookies, too!

2023-24 School Year–Week Eight

This has been a crazy week! We took the day off on Monday, and we might have done it anyway because Moose also had the day off, but the real reason for our long weekend was the story I taped with Rene Knott for the morning news!

Ladybug worked on rewriting a trig function using the cofunction in pre-calculus. She started learning about Newton’s First Law of Motion in physics. In health, we discussed birth order and family dynamics (something I’ve always found fascinating!). She punctuated titles in grammar. In writing, she learned about creating unbiased surveys. She read about the persecution of the Christians under Diocletian and Galerius in religion. In world history, she read about the Third Crusade led by Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, against Saladin following the capture of Jerusalem. In US history, she read about the French and Indian War, and some famous names started showing up!

Chickadee worked with three-dimensional figures in math. In health, she started a chapter on nutrition, learning about the importance of water and carbohydrates. She read about Australia and New Zealand in the Middle Ages, and we also read a myth about Maui, which had us singing songs from Moana! In grammar, she reviewed the list of prepositions and how to find the object of a preposition in a prepositional phrase. We continued reading Anne of Green Gables…we really don’t have much of the book left! We also baked the perfect fall recipe from The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook…Puffy Apple Dumplings. They were as delicious as they sound!

Today we went to the Missouri History Museum for this month’s “History Exploration Day.” The theme was “Harvest History: St. Louis Agriculture,” and it was the best one of their themed days we’ve been to yet! We all learned a lot, got to do some fun hands-on activities (even I made a craft), and got to meet an adorable calf!

I’m not sure how I’m going to top this week!

2022-23 School Year–Week Thirty

It’s been a busy week! On Wednesday, we took a field trip to see the new “Soccer City” exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. It was pretty cool (we even got to see some very recent history, because they had the ball that scored the first goal for St. Louis City SC on display!), and there were some fun, hands-on activities including foosball and a soccer video game that I was truly terrible at!

Even though our main purpose for driving into the city was touring that exhibit, the best part of the day was exploring the Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape in Forest Park for the first time (plus a brief stop at Turtle Park). It’s a great outdoor space, and while we were there, we got to see a few owls from the World Bird Sanctuary in Vally Park, which was really interesting.

The rest of the week wasn’t quite so exciting. Ladybug solved equations with three variables in algebra 2, which wasn’t as difficult as she was expecting. We started a chapter on kinetics in chemistry and she learned about reaction rates and rate orders. She read about William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest in history (it was pretty exciting to learn about the first coronation at Westminster Abbey with the next coronation just over a week away!). In creative writing, she had to write a poem about a significant event (she chose COVID-19) within her lifetime. She started her last selection in literature, Everyman.

Chickadee continued to work with the metric system in math. We read more about dinosaurs in science, and I learned that Chickadee’s favorite dinosaur is the triceratops (mine is the maiasaura in case you were wondering). She started reviewing all of the poems she’s memorized this year (six of them!). We only have one chapter of Smoke on the Wind left.

Just two more weeks of school, and we’re hoping for two more field trips, too!

2022-23 School Year–Week Twenty-Four

This was our last week of school before spring break, and the theme for the week was wrapping things up…we finished a remarkable number of things!

Ladybug graphed parabolas in algebra 2. She finished To Kill a Mockingbird. In history, she read about the breaking up of the Islamic Empire and also about Vikings in Britain. She finished the chapter on the gas phase in chemistry, focusing on the Ideal Gas Law.

Chickadee worked with ratios in math. We finished reading The Journey Begins. We also finished the science chapter on snakes and lizards. In history, she read all about Julius Caesar…the battles he fought, his rise to power, and his untimely death. She diagrammed compound sentences in grammar.

We also had an opportunity for a field trip this week…the Missouri History Museum had a “History Exploration Day” about mid-century women, which was right up my alley. The workshop on “Women, War, and the Workforce” was, in my opinion, one of the best they’ve presented. There were also some cool, um, “artifacts” to explore:

While we were out, we swung by the St. Louis Science Center:

I’m looking forward to spring break!

2022-23 School Year–Week Seventeen

I think we’re still trying to get used to being back to our normal routine, because this was a weird week. We didn’t get quite as much done as I had planned, but that was partially because we had an unexpected field trip opportunity pop up. I was disappointed that the Missouri History Museum discontinued their “Homeschool Days,” something we really enjoyed pre-pandemic. They have replaced it with “History Exploration Days,” however, so we went to that for the first time today. The topic was architecture in the city of St. Louis and beyond, and we especially enjoyed the “Sizing Up the Skyline” workshop, which looked at how architecture has been (and is) judged. In general, though, I felt like even though it’s advertised as a family program for all ages, it skewed quite young, so I’m not sure we’ll go back for one of those events.

There was regular schoolwork this week, too, of course. Ladybug made conversions between the metric and imperial systems in algebra 2. She finished the chapter on stoichiometry in chemistry. We continued our discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird. In history, she read about Harsha’s defeat by the Chalukya dynasty. She also read some examples of experimental fiction in creative writing.

Chickadee learned how to determine if figures are similar or congruent in math. She learned about horses and ponies in science. We continued to read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and she really dislikes Edmund! In history, she read about Philip II of Macedon, and especially Alexander the Great (and added another item to her list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).

We still haven’t returned to themed cooking, but both Chickadee and Ladybug baked something this week. Chickadee helped me make a “Birthday Cookie Cake” from the My Little Pony Baking Book, and Ladybug and I made “Thick Frosted Speculoos Cookie Bars” according to a recipe I saw Molly Yeh make on Girl Meets Farm:

Maybe next week will feel a little more normal!

2022-23 School Year–Week Four

This week has been more…complicated than I expected. It started out pretty well, with a day off on Monday so we could see Moose march in the town Labor Day parade. And then on Tuesday, we had a field trip day to the Missouri History Museum (for the first time in almost three years!), to see the new Coloring STL exhibit. We had a really great time…how often are you encouraged to color on the walls of a museum?!?

Even I made a small contribution, because I found something mid-century marvelous!

On Wednesday, we got back to our regular work. Ladybug reviewed radicals in algebra 2. She began Act III of Romeo and Juliet. She learned about mixtures and compounds in chemistry. In history, she read about Flavius Theodosius and the Roman Catholic Church. Her creative writing course had her rewriting sentences to make them more interesting and less repetitive. We continued reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and baked Barliman Butternut’s Blackberry Pie, which was delicious!

Chickadee reviewed calculating area and perimeter in math. In science, she continued learning about order Carnivora by starting a chapter on bears. In history, she read a brief history of the Jewish people, focusing on Abraham and Joseph. She learned how to add adjectives to a sentence diagram in grammar. We continued reading Heidi, and to my relief, we have almost reached the part where she gets to go home to the mountains.

On Thursday, our school day was interrupted by the developing news in the United Kingdom, and we spent most of our day watching the BBC. Today, I decided we should continue to focus on the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, so we watched The King’s Speech and some of our royal documentaries. Hopefully, next week we’ll have a little more success staying on task!